As mobile communications have proliferated, the versatility of mobile electronic devices has correspondingly increased. In addition to electronic communications such as voice, text, picture or video messages, users may enjoy various forms of digital or electronic content including audio works, such as music, and video works, including movies and home videos on their mobile devices. Users can enjoy these forms of media in a variety of locations, including home, work and while on travel. As a result, there is enormous demand for electronic content on mobile devices for entertainment or other purposes.
Presently, electronic content is delivered from a content provider or distributor to mobile devices in various formats such as, for example, MP3 format for digital audio playback. As a result, users are limited to purchasing and downloading electronic content directly from a content provider. Electronic content may be delivered in an unprotected or encrypted manner. Alternatively, electronic content may be protected using conditional access (CA) or digital rights management (DRM) technologies. However, traditional sales models, as applied to delivery of electronic content, are not equipped to meet growing industry challenges. For example, despite content protection technologies, music industry label companies increasingly face the menace of digital piracy that contributes substantially to declining sales. Thus, a need exists for a viral marketing-based, discounted referral and recommendation model to manage the authorized distribution of electronic content among multiple mobile devices.